#to give other characters and stories a chance

[i-suc-at-art]

DpxDc prompt #2

Full prompt from this idea

Tim and Danny are apart of an online RPG which is basically DND but anonymous and online. (it’s mainly for secret nerds who don’t have anyone irl to play with)

Danny plays as a changeling rogue who will often swipe things from players they don’t like

Tim plays a Variant Human, monk who wields a pole staff (my guy is not subtle) and will often give back the things danny (who’s known as wraith) (Tim goes by Scarlet Redpoll (mainly just Scarlet though)) stole

Rules of the RPG:

Everyone remains under their game handle (so there’s no doxing) NO REAL NAMES

You can interact with other parties who are using the same campaign as you, however when interacting with main story plot your party will go into its own private server

You can have a party of any size however it’s recommended to have a party over 4.. However you can make it with two or three or solo (but that’s just kinda sad..)

There is a chat feature and call feature in the game, however no hate speech, or bigotry

You can’t join a call unless your apart of the party

ofc this doesn’t stop it from happening but that’s not really relevant to the story

There are Dms (dungeon masters) but your team can also just use the computer for your Dm

Your character can be completely customized, and you’ll move around on a map

Ok now to the fun stuff

Danny and Tim (Wraith and Scarlet) have been playing together for about 3 months, and have made a commitment to play every 2 weeks on sunday (ghosts tend to take a break every 2 weeks on sundays (and B forced Tim to take a break from everything including cases every 2 weeks on sunday) Although sometimes each will get pulled away from the game and they’ll have to end early.

Anyways their campaign doesn’t super matter, only that they are online friends. Ok so one day Tim texts Wraith (they use online name bc y'know tim’s like uber famous) that he can’t make it to their session today bc his dad is forcing him to “bond” Aka he’s going to a gala with Bruce and Dick to stop a heist team that has been rampant across socialite and high society events. Wraith tells him it’s alright, and that coincidentally he’s busy too and was just about to cancel.

As Tim surveils everyone he curses Bruce for making him come. Tim had gotten into the habit of getting a night off from everything. He’d also not gotten a chance to do ample research on the guests beforehand because he’d been working on researching the thieves. He’d heard some chatter about the group looking into a possible haunted vahz, that was on display for the night. Tim had been surveying the party staying near the vahz making sure everyone checked out. Dick had texted saying that he’d cornered a possible thieving candidate and that he needed Tim to run an face ID check, on the picture he’d taken. The photo was of a young woman, her red hair caused Tim to think of Babs, but the woman’s simple teal evening dress couldn’t be further from her style. He’d done a quick search of the woman, she seemed to be some sort of rich young socialite, definitely Dicks type.. Her name was Kelly Jankins, no criminal history, or past arrests, she had a couple of parking tickets that were waved from her late teens. But nothing out of the ordinary. Tim texted Dick the information (save for the part about her being Dicks type) before stuffing his phone back into his pocket and moving from his post to go and get a drink. About 20 feet from his post he bumped into a nicely dressed guy, his hair black and suit tailored.. He also wore a Vladco pin on his left breast pocket.

He’d apologized and Tim told him it was no big deal, his eyes were blue.. But he could have sworn they were green when he first looked up. And his voice.. It sounded so familiar. Why did it sound familiar..?

As Tim walked away it hit him like a truck.. Wraith.

—————

Danny, Sam, Tucker, and Jazz had been stealing for some time now, after Danny had been outed as Phantom to the whole town by his parents. Him, Sam, and Tucker had decided to all leave Amity since all of their parents were unaccepting.. Sam’s parents had gone so far as to write her out of their will.. Danny had told her and Tuck to stay in Amity and fix their relationships with their family, but they’d both said ‘that if Danny wasn’t in Amity Park then they didn’t have their family.’ So they left. The three stayed with Jazz for a bit but she was a broke college student that barely had enough money for food and rent. So the three started stealing food.. It was out of necessity at first, and only from big companies, but when Sam got an online invitation to a big gala that was showing off some old artifacts from a rich guy’s private collection, Danny felt a pull toward a particular item from his core. The item belonged to someone in the ghost zone.. and he needed to have it. He needed to return it.

So they stole it. Danny was to be Sam’s plus one as he’s basically a haunted item metal detector. Sam would steal the item and Tuck would turn out the lights and secretly system. Then Danny would get him and Sam out of there. Most of their plans would be similar to this format. Sam would also grift from the other patrons, only stealing from the ones who seemed to have a shit ton of money. Eventually even teaching Danny how to do it too, she’d told him that ‘using his ghost powers were a cop out’ when he brought that up.. and that ‘anyone would be able to feel the chill of it.’ Which Danny was sure that that was untrue.. But he learned how to steal a wallet, or a phone Sam’s way.

Jazz had been against the thefts at first saying that all of these items belonged to the original owner. But soon she was persuaded when Danny told her that they were stealing stolen items. Stolen ghost items. Some of the items even had a ghost core attached to it. So Jazz became their planner, she’d make sure they’d have all the info they needed and that no one got caught.

Danny ends up in jail after being caught trying to lift someone’s wallet.. Jazz was there to legally get him out and pay the bail. Tucker got caught in a backroom of a place they were stealing from. ‘Oh yeah that’s her brother who would often get himself trapped in closets looking for the bathroom.. She apologizes profusely..’

So when Tucker had found their newest item, a haunted vase that had a shit ton of death and destruction attached to it, Jazz had thought up the plan. She’d heard whisperings that Vlad had gotten invited to the party but Danny was going to go in his place since Vlad would never go. Then they had a plan. A plan they were meant to stick to, until someone ran her face and Danny started being followed. So they abandoned the vase opting to get out of there instead of getting caught.

[pyrrhiccomedy]

A DM’s Fair Play Guide To Plot Twists

I love running a game with a lot of surprises. The challenge to pulling this off well is that, unless you’re playing a one on one game, your players outnumber you: and between them, they have a good chance of figuring out what’s going to happen, no matter how sneaky and clever you are.

The first way of dealing with this - which I’ll just call the bullshit way - is to not give your players the information they need to solve the mystery. Don’t let them find out about the secret society until it’s too late. Don’t give them any reason to suspect that their NPC ally is planning to kill them. Don’t let them find the murder weapon, don’t let them locate the witnesses, don’t give them the chance to skip to the end of their investigation.

This sucks, and if you run your games like this, you’re going to piss off your players. Because it isn’t fair.

In mystery literature, a “fair play mystery” is one where the reader is given all of the information they need in order to figure out the solution before the Big Reveal. It’s what makes the reveal good: that GASP, the “oh shit, the knife! the knife from the party! that was hers! I forgot!”

Pulling off a twist in a fair play game is an incredible feeling. Your players will think you’re a genius (or an absolute dick bastard, which is just as good) and they’ll respect it more when they land in hot water that they plausibly could have avoided. So how do you run a fair play game without your players figuring out the twists ahead of time, given that you’re definitely not smarter than all of your players put together?

By fucking with their expectations.

Here are some things that I keep in mind, to keep my players guessing. And it’s important, with all of this, that if your players see through something, let them have it. They should figure out a lot of things on their own! But if you’re regularly seeding your stories with all of this stuff, eventually your players will miss something. Those are somethings you can build on. The same way that a low level enemy who gets away once can keep coming back again and again until they become an important antagonist, a misapprehension your party proves to have a blindspot for can grow and develop until they get smacked with a breathtaking twist. 

What’s a twist if not the sudden overturning of an assumption you never thought to question?

1: Make your powerful friendly NPCs know a lot...but not as much as the players think they do.

Player characters often end up with powerful allies. It would be very convenient for the party if those allies always had accurate information. Make sure they don’t always enjoy that convenience.

It’s a balancing act: you want your powerful NPCs to be powerful. You want this alliance to be meaningful and beneficial to your players. But give your NPC an Achilles heel of some kind, when it comes to the information at their disposal. The Noble General commands powerful forces and knows the lay of the enemy’s land well...but that doesn’t mean he knows what every squadron and scouting party is up to. The Political Mastermind may know the ins and outs of the court, and have keen insight into the motivations of others: but he has an enemy who pisses him off so much that he loses all objectivity around her. The Powerful Wizard can call upon great magic to aid the party: but his divinations aren’t as accurate as he thinks they are, and he’s prone to finding, in his signs and omens, what he wants to see, more than what’s actually there.

Most of the time, their information should be good! That will make it more likely that your players will trust them the one time when it isn’t.

2. Let (apparently) less powerful NPCs sometimes know more than the players think they do. 

Most NPCs aren’t the Noble General or the Powerful Wizard. Most NPCs are Daves, designed to get the players from place to place. Most of those Daves know about as much as you’d expect them to. But some Daves have plans of their own.

You don’t always have to signpost with big blinking lights which of your NPCs are ‘important,’ and which ones are ‘unimportant.’ Sneak in a crafty Dave from time to time. That assistant they talk to, every time they go to see the prince? That bitch knows everything, and she’s almost ready to make her move. 

3: There is no such thing as a completely reliable witness. 

If the players only get information from one person, that information should be flawed in at least one, potentially small, but important way. Smart players will seek a second opinion, or at least allow for the possibility that their information may be incomplete. But even smart players get out over their skis sometimes.

4: Let your NPCs be aware of the power of a first impression. 

If an NPC gives a strong first impression of being a particular kind of person, it’s because they’re comfortable giving that impression. That might be because it’s who they are. But maybe not.

One of the first characters the PCs met in a VtM campaign I ran was Gawaine. Gawaine was a good old pine-scented man’s man, with salt and pepper stubble and a blue Ford truck. He listened to AC/DC, and talked about the war. He was affable and honest and willing to lend a hand. You already know Gawaine. Everybody knows a Gawaine. Gawaines are trustworthy, salt of the earth types. You don’t necessarily think to question a Gawaine.

That’s exactly why Gawaine was such a useful persona for Krystiyan, the Tzimisce Voivode, a cruel and alien sculptor of flesh who “never left his haven.” There were plenty of clues that they were the same person, but that campaign was in its endgame before the players put them all together.

5: Sometimes, dangerous and villainous NPCs should be helpful and cooperative. 

Not even necessarily because they’re manipulating the players, or even deceiving them about their true natures, but because their interests and the players’ interests genuinely align...for the moment. 

One of the easiest levers in your players’ brains to exploit is the expectation that people who help you are your friends. Even if your players know, consciously, that they shouldn’t trust this person, most of the time they kind of can’t help it, if the NPC is genuinely helpful to them and at least a little charismatic. 

6: Sometimes, good and valuable NPCs should be unhelpful and uncooperative. 

No matter how mature your players are, there’s a natural tendency to react to uncooperative NPCs with a reflexive, “Hey, fuck you! We’re the protagonists! This guy is an asshole!” so from time to time have a helpful, honest, good-aligned NPC have a wholly justified but as-yet-unknown-to-the-party reason to flatly refuse to deal with them.

7: Every NPC should have a secret. 

Not necessarily a bad secret. Were it to be revealed, it might even make the party like them more! But for their own reasons, the NPC does not want their secret to come out, and they will lie to the party to protect it. Players go crazy when they realize they’re being lied to, and often jump to some wild assumptions about your NPC’s motivations. I’ve had an NPC lie about the opening hours of a shop, and had the PCs assume that they were black market dealers for the villain when the dude just wanted to be able to close early so he could go smoke weed in the park.

8. As a DM, it’s polite to remind your players of the common knowledge their characters would possess...even when it doesn’t reflect the truth.

We all know it’s tedious when the DM calls for a roll when you’re just asking for common knowledge. I shouldn’t have to make a roll to know the dumb space word for plastic in a Star Wars game. I shouldn’t have to make a roll to know who the Holy Roman Emperor is in a game about medieval vampires. The DM should supply common knowledge for free, whenever it comes up.

That doesn’t mean common knowledge is true.

This is different from just lying to your players, because you don’t put the weight of DM word-of-God behind it. It’s not “You would know this guy is a Ventrue, based on XYZ.” It’s “it would be a common assumption that this guy is a Ventrue, based on XYZ.” He might not be a Ventrue. It might in fact be extremely important that he is not a Ventrue. But if it is commonly assumed that he’s a Ventrue, that is - word for word - something you can share with your players. If they don’t look any deeper than common knowledge, that’s on them.

9. Obviously untrustworthy NPCs provide great air coverage for less obviously untrustworthy NPCs.

The obviously untrustworthy NPC might or might not be planning to betray the party. But if you introduce two untrustworthy NPCs in the same storyline, and one of them seems normal and cool and has a genuine plot-related reason to be there, and the other one is Jaffar, Jaffar’s gonna get clocked, but Susan over there will probably slip under the radar, and might even get tapped to help out with the whole Jaffar situation. They might get Susan’s number, by the end of the session. Susan might become an ‘ally.’ Susan might even get romanced by a party member. Play your cards right, and Jaffar might just end up a footnote in the introduction of Susan, Scourge of Worlds and most hated NPC in the entire campaign.

10. Your villains should always have a secret plan B.

Your villain isn’t stupid, right? And your villain probably isn’t so arrogant that it is inconceivable to them that their plan might fail. They’ve been planning this ritual for ten thousand years, after all. It’s always possible that some plucky band of heroes could show up at the last minute and murder your high priest, or steal your amulet, or seduce your second in command. So what does your villain have in his back pocket to make the players go, “Oh, shit - he planned for this!”

This may mean that there is a whole separate plot happening, running alongside the main story. This is great, because when weird things happen, the players have to figure out whether this is part of Plot A or Plot B, and working out who did what and why gets a lot more interesting. If they end up foiling Plot A, great - your villain was also secretly behind Plot B the whole time, and will transfer all of his resources over to that. 

Sometimes your players will figure out that Plots A and B were both the same plot the whole time, with the same villain at the head, and they’ll feel like the smartest people on the planet, and it will be their favorite moment of the entire game. That’s great! You gave them that!

Sometimes, they won’t. And when the villain of Plot A, apparently defeated, starts laughing and reveals that he was also the mastermind behind Plot B, which is now too late to be stopped, that will probably be your favorite moment of the entire game.

[pomefioredove]

Just read the whole "Yuu gets sold off by Crowley" stories and OMLLL THEYRE SO GOOD XDDD Any chance you could do more on it like if Niege won or if the parents heard about it and also decided to adopt Yuu and Grim?? Maybe the other staff adopting her too or more on Crewel's adoption please???

requests for the crewel ending are in high demand I see...

parts 1 | 2 | 3 | kalim | 'bad' ending | RSA ending

summary: a crewel ending type of post: short fic, mostly speculation characters: crewel ft. other staff additional info: platonic, reader is gender neutral, reader is yuu, definitely pre-book seven, parents being cringe

If Crewel were allowed to beat Crowley to death with one of his designer handbags, he would have.

...Unfortunately, with the adoption paperwork fees (...and a need for more designer handbags), he regrettably still needs this job.

And he'd like to keep an eye on you while you're still here, too.

The animosity between Crowley and the rest of the staff is unspoken, shared through passing glances and dry remarks at meetings, and though the matter is "settled", in Crowley's own words, no one seems keen on letting it go anytime soon.

The students who participated in the bidding war are subject to months worth of extra homework, harder exams, and worse studying hours from Crewel himself. To teach them a little responsibility, he says.

You, at least, are exempt from his radical new lesson plan. You have enough on your plate as it is.

After all, as soon as the legal proceedings are through and your identity as an autonomous human being in Twisted Wonderland is secured, the "fun" begins.

Your uniforms are tailored and rightly fit, you're given a proper meal plan, even Ramshackle is decorated with a few of Crewel's personal touches. A throw rug here and there, a fresh coat of paint, anything to cover up the rotting interior and turning it into something worthy of envy.

"...Given that Grim doesn't start shedding everywhere," Crewel had said. "Ugh, pets."

The rest of the staff are just as helpful, citing your recent experience with the bidding war as reason to take it easier on you for a while (or for the rest of the semester, really). Trein gives you less homework, Sam "accidentally" doesn't ring you up a few items...

It starts to feel more like the entirety of the staff has adopted you.

Not that you mind, of course. This is the closest thing you've had to family since... well, since coming here.

There's just the one thing, though.

"I don't know why you waste your time with those untrained pups. Honestly. The idea of their tacky shoes touching the rugs in here..." Crewel sighs. His eyes turn to you. "You know, I hear Vil Schoenheit has been looking for someone to take to his next shoot..."

Ashton chuffs. "Don't be ridiculous, they need someone who's strong enough to take care of them! Kingscholar is a real star once he gets motivated,"

"Please tell me I didn't just hear that," Crewel massages his temples. "And might I add, I'm their father, not you. I give the blessing. You're more like the unwelcome uncle crashing the family barbeque."

Grim nudges you with his elbow, muttering a quick yikes before darting out of the kitchen. You groan in embarrassment. "Guys..."

"I'm just thinking about what's best for them," Ashton says, puffing out his chest. "They're at an age where they're going to start thinking about dating, and we want them to make good choices."

"Guys,"

"Exactly. Schoenheit is a perfect gentleman, a master in my class, and has the style to back him up. Kingscholar can demonstrate occasional intelligence, but he's still another housecat," he shudders. "The shedding..."

A tired voice from the doorway interrupts their tense back-and-forth, much to your relief.

"Goodness, the two of you, at this again?" Trein scoffs, taking a seat at the table. "This conversation is highly inappropriate. You shouldn't be controlling the poor thing's romantic prospects, if they even have them. When the time comes, the choice will be theirs to make."

Crewel huffs, rolling his eyes and leaning against the table. Ashton kicks his feet. And neither utter another word.

"Good," Trein says, then clears his throat. "Ahem. But that's not to say that we can't offer our guidance. That Vanrouge did quite well on the last History of Magic exam..."

You groan.

[linkscookbook]

IT HAS ARRIVED

To celebrate the anniversary of Tears of the Kingdom's release, and to revisit Hyrule, we have put together a FREE 127-page cookbook zine for fans to enjoy. Link to downloadable PDF at the bottom.

About the Zine

The goal of this zine has been to imagine and capture snapshots of Link and Zelda’s internal and external journey between Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. One of the central mechanics in both games is cooking; you cook to stay alive, you cook to improve your abilities, and you cook to forge relationships with other characters through side quests. We wanted to centre this mechanism, so decided to frame the zine as Link and Zelda’s joint travel journal.

In these pages you will therefore find a collection of short stories, small illustrations, and numerous recipes. Our team has been hard at work, collaborating and developing ideas to flesh out Link and Zelda’s journey.

Each short story is written from either Link or Zelda’s perspective. They are part narrative, part journaled notes. You will find that they have been given each their font to represent their writings. Zelda’s is the more refined one, while Link’s is the more sprawling one. I’m sure you will see the difference.

You will also find small notes and letters from other characters – notably Tulin, Teba, Riju, and Kilton – as well as an excerpt from the Lucky Clover Gazette.

The recipes themselves have been fashioned as though they were written by Link and Zelda. This does mean their fonts have been used, but we hope any difficulty in reading it is forgiven on the basis that the overall conceit of the zine is preserved. Should there be a great demand, we may look into creating a second edition using friendlier fonts.

As for the illustrations, these have been created both with the goal of illustrating the dishes – and processes where necessary – and to imply that Link and Zelda also illustrate their journeys.

All our artists, short story writers, and recipe writers have come into this zine with different skills and abilities. There may therefore be subtle differences in styles, which we have chosen to retain to exhibit each contributor’s personal flair.

Finally, I want to thank those who have contributed their time and skills to the creation of this zine: Alex, Cenza, Deldon, Mina, Rose, Sam, Scarlet, Terek, and Mr Theodore. It’s been a pleasure working with you all on this project, and I look forward to the next time our paths cross.

Thank you.

Kalh, Editor, @vagueandominousvibes

Contributors

Alex: No social media.

Cenza: Instagram (cenzadelladonna)

Deldon: Bluesky (deldon)

Mina: @zarvasace ; Ao3 (Zarvasace)

Rose: @jmserebii ; X (gravityroseK)

Sam: @lucky-clover-gazette ; Ao3 (Clicheusername5678)

Scarlet: @charascarlet , @hyrulescarlet ; Ao3 (CharaScarlet)

Terek: @valenthobbies

Mr Theodore: No social media.

Downloads

PDF: Link's Cookbook PDF

Print Files: Print Files Folder (NOTE: Read Print Files Instructions below!)

Print Files Instructions

These files have been formatted for an A5 Linen Wrap individual print through Lulu.com. The current listed price is £24.23 | $30.34 (shipping not included).

To give the illustrations a chance to shine, we recommend printing with Premium Colour on paper 80# White. To get your print copy, follow these steps:

Create an account with Lulu.com. It's completely free. If you already have an account, simply log in.

Go to 'Create' in the top bar and select 'Print Book'.

Click 'Start my Print Book'.

Under 'Select a Goal', choose 'Print Your Book'. Follow the remaining instructions on the page and press 'Design Your Project'.

Under 'Interior File Upload', upload the interior files found in the downloadable Print Files Folder (see above). This should automatically fill in book size and page count.

Under 'Interior Color', choose 'Premium Color'. For a cheaper print, choose 'Standard Color'.

Under 'Paper Type', choose '80# White – Coated'. For a cheaper print, choose '60# White'.

Under 'Book Binding', choose 'Linen Wrap'. The cover has been designed specifically for this and is not compatible with any other binding option.

Select your choice of colour for linen and print. We recommend tan (linen) and gold (print). These are the colours that will be on the linen wrap, underneath the paper cover.

Under 'Cover Finish', select 'Glossy' or 'Matte' according to your preferences. This makes no difference price-wise. We recommend 'Matte'.

Under 'Book Cover Design', upload the cover file found in the downloadable Print Files Folder (see above).

You should now be able to see a preview under 'Book Preview'. Check that you are satisfied with the result and select 'Review Book'. This will take you to a page from which you can order your individual print copy. Due to the size of the file, Lulu may take a few minutes to process the files before you can place the order, but this should take no more than 10 minutes. Simply go have something to eat, then refresh the page when you return and you should be able to order your copy.

Happy cooking!

[bookuce]

Change My Mind

SUMMARY: Josh and Alina are great friends most days. Other days, they want to tear each other apart. Some days, they’re in love with each other, but neither of them will admit it.

*DISCLAIMER: This is a multi-part series. I do not own any of the characters in the writing except for the OC. The book also uses the actual names of the wrestlers. Gionna is Liv, Austin is Xavier Woods, Josh is Jey Uso, Jon is Jimmy Uso, Trinity is Naomi, Alina is just Alina. The book is not realistic and does not take place during real events, but some actual events could pop up in the story eventually. I DO NOT GIVE ANYONE PERMISSION TO POST MY WORK ON ANY SITE*

PAIRING: Jey Uso x Black OC

TROPE: Friends to Lovers

WARNINGS: Language

WORD COUNT: 2,297

PART ONE

PART TWO

“One! Two! Three!” Shouts the crowd. The bell would ring, signifying the end of the tag match. The Usos rolled out the ring quickly before an angry Street Profits could reach them. The tag match ended dirty. Montez’s shoulder was up, but the referee didn’t see it. Josh and Jon knew they got off without being caught and were celebrating on the ramp without care. They would eventually run to the back, vanishing behind the curtain.

Alina is informed to be at the gorilla for Josh and Jon for a backstage interview, and she can hear them as rowdy as ever, drawing near. They would pop out from the dark ramp, bouncing around with their championships in their hands. “Jimmy, Jey, can I get a word? What happened out there?” She says, catching their attention. Jon would drop his sweaty arm across her shoulders while Josh snatched the mic and her hand up.

“What happened out there? What happened out there, Uce, is that we won! Ain’t nothing else happened out there. The Street Profits thought they could hang with us, and what happened!”

“They got dropped!” Jon chimed in.

“They got dropped!” Josh repeats. “Ain’t no one taking these from us, Uce!”

“Yeet!”

“And if you think you got a chance,” Josh takes the mic out of Alina’s hands, blocking her from the camera. She took this as a chance to rid her hand of the sweat he left behind.

“Yeet!”

“You can get dropped too!”

“Yeet!”

“Cause at the end of the day, Uce, you the number twos, and we the ones!” Josh would end his promo with a raise of his pointer finger. His twin would follow suit before they both walked off towards the locker rooms. The cameraman would put his camera down, and the light on its head turned off.

“That was good.” Alex, the cameraman, would say, causing Alina to nod in agreement.

“Ay, Lina!” Josh shouts from across the large hall. “We going out tonight! Don’t make no plans!” Every time they successfully defended their championships, they wanted to go out. Though their night was ending, Alina had to stick around for the last two matches in case the company needed her for backstage interviews.

“Too late!” She teases.

“Cancel that shit, Uce!” Jon shouts, making Alina chuckle softly.

“Text me the details!” She shouts back.

———————————————————————————

Alina didn’t do much clubbing anymore. As she got older, she noticed the club crowd got younger. At thirty-two years old, she just didn’t see the hype anymore. That and it always took her days to recover. Getting her out of the house or a hotel room wasn’t an easy accomplishment, but somehow, Josh could do it every time. Maybe it was because he would harass her until she said yes; He always knew how to make her say yes.

She didn’t like that, but he loved it.

Here she was, standing in a nightclub surrounded by sloshed party-goers, and she had no idea where her group was. What she did know was that she needed a drink. If she was going to be able to tolerate being here, she needed to join the masses. She moved through the crowd, her eyes fixated on the glowing bar at the back of the large room. She hadn’t received any text messages from Josh in over forty-five minutes. All he had to say the last time they spoke was that he was here. When she gets to the bar, she squeezes between two people. They didn't pay her any mind, but the bartender saw her just as she got in.

“What can I get for you?” He asks.

“Vodka sprite, please!” She answered. The bartender quickly moved from her sight to prepare her drink for her. While Alina waited, she took her phone out of her pocket. The screen lit up, showing that she still had no new messages. Her thumb swipes up to unlock it, tapping the messages icon immediately after. Josh’s name was at the top of her inbox, her last message still there. She’d click on the message thread to type up a new message.

Alina: Hey, I’m here at the bar.

The screen would go dark after she sent the message, but she would keep the phone in her hand. The bartender would return with her drink, a smile on his face. “Thank you.” She says. She’d hand over her debit card, allowing him to swipe it. He asked her if she would want to start a tab, but she’d declined. She knew her drinks were on Josh once he found her. She glanced down at her phone; Still no new messages.

A hand would touch the small of her back, causing her to jump. Alina glanced over her left shoulder to find a man who wasn’t her best friend. This man towered over her. If she had to guess his height, she would say he was six foot five inches. He gives her a grin. “Hi,” He greets her.

“Hi.” She returns.

He leans down slightly; his mouth is in listening shot of her ear. “I’m Gavin, and you are?” He holds his hand out for her to shake.

“Alina.” She says, taking his hand. She shakes it gently before letting go of it. “Am I in your way? I can move.” She begins to make space for him. Gavin’s hand rests on her shoulder, stopping her from moving more.

“I came over here for you,” He starts. “I couldn’t walk away without telling you you're beautiful.” Heat began to rise in Alina’s face as her eyes shifted to the floor.

“Thank you.” She says, looking up at the guy again. Gavin wasn’t bad-looking. His black hair was shaggy on his head, his eyes a deep brown that looked almost black. His skin was pale, but his cheeks were faintly pink. He had a nostalgic feel to him overall.

“Are you here with anyone?” He asks.

“I…”

“Yeah, she’s with me, Uce.” A familiar voice chimes in. Josh eyes the man in front of him before holding out his hand. “You good, baby?” He asks, glancing at Alina. Took him long enough, she thought. She slips her hand into his warm one, instantly pulled to the Samoan. Once she was near him, he would slide his arm around her waist. Mentally, Alina took a deep breath to steady her now racing heart.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” She says, leaning in to kiss his earlobe. Josh’s collected demeanor wouldn’t falter at the action, but boy, was he doing somersaults in his head. Gavin glances between the two before letting his brown eyes settle on Alina.

“Lucky man.” He says before turning to vanish back into the crowd.

Alina turns to look at Josh. “Damn, I thought you forgot how to use a phone.” She takes a step away from him.

“My bad, I didn’t know you texted me.” He says. Josh takes in Alina’s appearance. He couldn’t verbally tell her how good she looked, but he’s sure she knows. Of course, she knows how attractive she is. He was always having to fight off men on her behalf. Was he fighting off men for his sake or her own? Both? Both. He was selfish like that. Selfish, possessive—whatever you wanted to call it, he was that.

Alina noticed his staring. It wasn’t like he was trying to hide that he was doing it. He was blatant about things he did when it came to her. “Where is everyone?” She asks, snapping him out of his trance. He looks in two directions before allowing his eyes to settle on her.

“Oh, uh, we got a section. Come on.” Josh snatches up her hand again, pulling her through the crowd. They would zigzag through the dancefloor before making it to a set of stairs. A security guard stood there, blocking people who weren’t them from going up. He would step to the side to allow Josh and Alina to pass. They’d climb the stairs, finding themselves in an area lit up blue. In the corner was a bar that resembled the same as the bottom but smaller.

“Yay, he found her!” Gionna exclaims, jumping up from her seat on a white couch. With one hand, Alina hugs her friend. Josh stood to the side of them, watching the two women interact.

“You gonna let her go, Uce?” Jon shouts at him. The eldest twin always had time to tease Josh and Alina about their relationship. It wasn’t a friendship to him. He was beyond calling it that, as was everyone around them. The only two that were fighting for the title of friendship were the two people involved. Josh reluctantly lets go of her hand, and Alina notices instantly. Her eyes meet his back as he’s walking towards the couch.

“Have you gotten a drink yet?” Gionna asks.

It was then Alina realized she left her drink downstairs at the bar. She looks over the ledge, spotting the small cup sitting at the bar with no one around it. Well, she wasn’t going back for that. “No.” She answers, looking at the petite blonde in front of her. Gionna snatches up the same hand Josh previously held and pulls her over to the bar.

“Alina looks good,” Austin says, watching Alina and Gionna walk towards the bar. Josh and Jon look at each other before Josh looks off in the distance. He could feel his blood pressure rising by the second.

“Not too much on my sister-in-law, Uce,” Jon says. Trinity would slap Jon’s chest, making him bring his hand up to cover himself. Josh looks at his brother, pointing his finger at him.

“Quit playing with me, Jon! I done told you!” His brother would laugh, kicking his feet slightly at the reaction he’d gotten from his little brother.

“Oh, so she’s free game?” Austin asks, standing up.

“This ass whooping can be free game.” Josh snaps, rising with him. “Try it if you want to.” He warns. Austin lowered his eyes at Josh, a mischievous grin on his face. Slowly, he sits down. He wasn’t in the loop about what happens within The Usos friend group, but this little interaction told him everything he needed to know.

“So, like I said, not too much on my sister-in-law,” Jon repeats with a smile. “He don’t play about her.” Josh shoots a glare in his brother’s direction before sitting down.

Gionna ordered a tray of tequila shots at the bar for their group. She got twelve shots for six people. She was on an unspoken mission to loosen everyone up. Now that Lina was here, Gionna knew that the energy in their space would be different. Without fail, Josh and Alina always get weird around each other. “What’s new with you?” She would ask, making a quiet Alina speak up.

“Nothing,” She breathes. “I’m not complaining, though. After that last attempt, I decided to take a break from dating. It’s not worth it.”

“Why? Because of Josh?”

Alina was quiet for a moment. That was part of the reason, but not for what everyone’s thinking. She brings her index finger to her mouth, rubbing slightly at the bottom of her lower lip. It was something she often did when she was choosing her words. “I’m due for some much-needed reflection.” She settled, glancing at her friend. Gionna grinned, her lips twitching as she fought a laugh. “What?”

“Whatever the fuck that means.” She says, laughing at Alina. “I mean, I’m not one to judge…”

“You are right now!” Alina exclaims, causing Gionna to laugh more. The bartender places a tray of shots on the bar before them. Gionna grabs them, moving off her seat. Without another word, she turns to go back to their group. Alina follows behind her, quickly downing the Sex On The Beach cocktail she purchased. She’s going to need more by the end of the night.

“I come baring gifts!” Gionna shouts when they get back to their section. She places the shots on the table and drops down next to Austin, leaving a spot next to Josh open. She sits down, her body turned in towards everyone. Everyone reached for their two shots.

Josh sniffs his shots. “Girl, is this tequila?” He asks.

“Oh, hell nah, Gigi,” Jon says, shaking his head. “This ain’t gonna work for us.” The twins are both leaning to put their shots down.

“No balls.” She says. They pause, glancing up at her.

“Who!?” They shout in unison. They sit up again with their shots in their hands, ready to toss both back. Reverse psychology beats their asses without fail each time.

“Ooh, let’s toast, y’all!” Trin shouts, scooting to the edge of her seat. She holds a shot glass up. “Congrats to my honey and his brother for retaining their championships! Here’s to another successful defense and friendship!” She exclaims. Everyone cheered, leaning in to toast their glasses.

Josh turns to toast his shot glasses at Alina before they both toss them back. The alcohol warms their chests, but they both make a face of disgust before setting their glasses down. “You want another drink?” He asks, tapping her leg. “Vodka Sprite?” She nods. He stands to his feet, moving around her to the bar. Alina watches after him, a soft smile on her face.

“Alina,” Austin sings, sliding over to her. “How are you?” He asks.

“I’m good,” She answers. “You?”

“Oh, never better.” He replies. “Say, I have a question for you…” The pair wasn’t aware, but Jon and Trin were watching. The eldest twin had a grin on his face, not because Alina was talking to anyone, but because Josh was going to lose his fucking shit when he got back.

A/N: Hi! This chapter is a little long! It would’ve been longer but I chose to stop here! I’m sorry if it’s awkward or anything!!

Jey (Josh) is gonna blow a gasket LMAO

Comment to be in the tag-list!

🏷️ list: @wrestlingprincess80 @venusesworld @fearlesschimera @tbmotw @paigereeder @yana3sworld @truefant4sy @sisinever @empressdede @thesamoanqueen

[taylorman2274]

Reverse Isekai Genshin Shenanigans #2

Characters: Venti, Kaeya, Diluc, Xingqiu, Zhongli

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Is everything to your liking, Venti?" you asked.

"Oh none of that, [Y/N]," Venti responded with a small smile. "No need to be so formal around me."

The two of you were currently in the living room of your apartment. Since Venti was here, you had planned on showing him some of the stuff around your place. As for how Venti got here in the first place...

It's kind of a long story.

But to make that story short, Venti told you that Albedo and the Traveler had been working on a device that can establish a linked portal between Teyvat and Earth. From what you understand, it's kind of how you are able to access Teyvat on your computer, but this time it's the other way around.

It's honestly surprising how quickly it took them to reach you.

"However," Venti began, raising a finger. "Before you show me any more stuff, do you by chance happen to have any wine around? I am quite curious to see how your world's wine holds up to Mondstadt's."

You shook your head. "Nope. Sorry, I don't drink."

"You don't?!" Venti gasped. "Well that's no fun! Life is so much better when indulging in fabulous wine."

"My liver would say otherwise." you quipped.

Venti, ignoring you, continued. "It's unfortunate, really. And I was just beginning to get my hopes up high," he sighed. "But alas, I guess a bard's stomach will have to go empty for now."

You could tell that he was joking, but you still felt like helping him out. He was your guest, after all.

Luckily, your apartment was in the middle of a shopping complex.

"How about this. There's a wine store nearby. I can walk down and grab you something. Would that be alright?"

Venti's eyes are shining so bright you nearly covered your eyes to stop from going blind.

"Ohoho, really now?" he smirks, before giving a Knight of Favonius salute. "Lead the way then, [Y/N]. I shall be right behind you."

You sighed. "No, Venti. I can't risk you being seen by other people. Just tell me what you want and I'll go get it."

"Not a chance!" he happily exclaimed, skipping towards the door. "A decision of great importance should be trusted with an expert connoisseur such as myself."

He opened the door and gestured you towards the empty hallway. "After you, dear [Y/N]."

...

The God of Freedom has restrictions when it comes to purchasing wine apparently.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I must say, [Y/N]. Your place certainly is interesting. It's both familiar and exotic."

You raised a skeptical brow at the calvary captain. "Should I be taking that as a compliment or...?"

In response, Kaeya chuckled. "I simply mean that it's unique. Let's leave it at that."

You slowly nodded. Kaeya was a hard person to read, but you think he meant it as a complement.

...You think.

"However, before we continue, do you have any drinks on hand. I'm getting a bit thirsty."

You nodded politely. "Of course, I'll go get you something right away!"

You quickly walked to the kitchen and opened your fridge. "What would you like? I've got water, milk, juice, soda..."

Kaeya thought for a second. "Do you have any wine?"

...

Goddammit.

You loudly sighed. "First of all, I don't drink. Second of all, Venti made me spend nearly $100 at the wine store, and I didn't even get to keep any of it!"

Kaeya pondered in thought some more. "A wine store...?"

Oh no.

"No..." you warned. "Don't you even think about getting me to spend more money."

Kaeya merely brough the back of his hand to his chin. "But I am a guest, are I not? It is common courtesy for the guest to be treated respectively after all."

...

You hate it when they're right.

You sighed again. "Fine..."

Kaeya softly smiled. "Excellent. I can't wait to see what they have to offer."

Thankfully, Kaeya was nice enough to settle for only one wine bottle.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I'm sorry if this isn't to your liking, Master Diluc."

"Please, [Y/N]. Just Diluc is fine. No need for formalities when we're not in Teyvat."

He began to look around at his surroundings.

"Though I am curious as to why you decided to bring me to a restaurant of all places."

"Because you didn't want to go to the wine store." you replied, deadpan. "Which honestly surprises me considering you own the biggest winery in Mondstadt."

Diluc did not look impressed. "I've seen enough wine in my life already, it does not make any difference if I go see anymore."

You shrugged your shoulders. "Suit yourself."

You looked back down at the menu in your hands, reading its contents for something good to order.

"...Is there another reason why you brought me here?"

You looked up at him. "...I mean yeah, there is, but it's nothing important."

Diluc crossed his arms. "Oh? What is it?"

You pointed to the top of his menu. "It's the name of the restaurant."

He looked down towards the menu and read the name. "Firebirds? What of it?"

You tilted your head. "...You don't get it?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Get what?"

"Ah, forget it," you waved a hand. "I just thought it was something funny."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Where are we heading, my liege?"

"Somewhere I think you'll really like."

The two of you walked through the front doors and stopped just a few steps afterward. To the naked eye, books upon books laid upon rows and rows of shelves.

As expected of a library.

You looked at Xingqiu and couldn't help but chuckle at the wide-eyed expression he was giving. His mouth also hung open comically.

"Easy now, Xingqiu, don't go drooling all over the floor now." You turned and pointed towards the front desk. "I figure that this place might be too big for you to handle so I trust that any questions you have you'll ask the librari- aaannnnnnnnnd he's gone."

...

You looked away for five seconds and you've already lost the book lover.

Is this how parents feel whenever they lose sight of their kids?

You couldn't help but chuckle as you shook your head. You suppose this was to be expected after all. When Xingqiu sets his sights on a book of choice, there's not much that will drag him away from it.

Knowing that he had no reason to leave the library, you began walking around the building searching for him.

You did find him after a few minutes. He had grabbed a seat on top of a beanbag and was nose deep in a book in his hands. Stacked next to him were a ton of other books that he presumably collected.

However, as you walked closer to him, you could see a troubled expression on his face.

"Is something wrong?" you questioned.

Xingqiu lowered the book from his face. "Sorry, my liege, I seem to be unable to read this. I can't understand any of the words."

...

Ah crap, you forgot about that.

"Do you think you could read this to me?" he asked, handing the book to you.

You nodded. "Sure, I can do that."

Book in hand, you plopped down on another beanbag next to him and started to read. You had no other plans for the day, so you were fine with hanging around the library for a little bit.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You didn't feel like going out today. It didn't matter who asked, you were exhausted.

"Hmmm..."

Even if that someone was an over 6,000-year old retired Archon.

To be quite frank, you were terrified to be in Zhongli's presence. Sure, this isn't the first Archon you've met in person, but Venti does a superb job at hiding his status. Nobody can take a look at him and think that he's an Archon.

Zhongli on the other hand, has this imposing aura around him. How does Hu Tao not feel threatened by this man?

"So this is where you're able to guide us from?"

You nodded. "Yes sir."

After showing Zhongli around your apartment, he expressed an interest in seeing the device you use to guide them. Not thinking ahead, and because you were terrified of telling an Archon 'no', you agreed.

...Okay, you did try to tell Venti 'no', but that's different!

Now, you were frantically trying to piece together a convincing story about how your guidance is not part of a video game and everything that they've come to known was written, modeled, and designed by a company. Existential crisis are not fun to deal with.

However, Zhongli isn't stupid. There's a high percent chance he'll see through your lies.

...Basically, you're fucked.

You focused back on the computer. The main menu was playing. You sneaked a peak at Zhongli. He appeared to be lost in thought.

"Need me to explain anything?" you asked, hesitantly.

Zhongli nodded. "Please."

You sighed. Here goes nothing.

"So to start things off, there's this company called Hoyoverse. This company is responsible for maintaining a stable connection between here and Teyvat. That's why you saw their name appear on the screen earlier. This down here is the region that the connection is held. If I click on that, I'm able to change to another region. However, I'm gonna keep it on this one since I get the best connection from there."

"Then below that is my User ID. Going back to Hoyoverse for a moment, it's not just one connection they're responsible for. They're able to hold thousands of connections at once."

You saw Zhongli open his mouth so you stopped talking for a moment. "But I've never known anyone other than you guide us. How can it be that there are multiple connections to the same place?"

You shook your head. "No, it's not multiple connections to one Teyvat. It's multiple connections to different Teyvats. Think of it as parallel universes if you will. Through this connection, I am able to guide people such as you. However, through another connection, someone else is able to guide another Zhongli. Does that make sense?"

You nearly breathed a sigh of relief when he nodded his head. "I see. Please, continue."

"Right. Next, you have these two buttons over here. If I click on the top one, you'll see ways to interact with other connection members as well as the company itself. Also, you have the fair use statement and terms of service. These are just the rules I need to follow while guiding you guys. If I break any of these rules, my access is revoked and the connection gets terminated."

Zhongli looks at the screen for a brief period before turning to you with his arms crossed. "You say these are rules."

You nodded. "Yes sir."

"...They sound more like contracts to me."

...

"I mean..." you scratched the back of your neck. "I wouldn't say contracts, per se. I guess you could call them... agreements?"

Zhongli raised an eyebrow. "So now they're agreements?"

...

Welp. It was a good run while it lasted.

You sighed heavily and lowered your head in shame. "No. You're right. They're contracts."

Zhongli nodded in agreement. "As I thought."

"Sorry." you apologized.

...

"Do you know what is listed in the contracts."

You looked up at Zhongli. He still bore a curious expression on his face. There wasn't any anger nor frustration hinted anywhere.

"Ummm... Not really."

Zhongli was quick to furrow his eyebrows. Okay, now he's looking a bit mad. "You signed a contract without reading its contents?"

You scooched your chair a tiny bit away from Zhongli to give you some more space. "Well I mean, yeah, but I'm not the only one who does that. Everyone does! Nobody's got the time nor the patience to read all of that legal jargon."

Zhongli's eyebrows furrowed even further. You might be overexaggerating out of fear, but he looks absolutely pissed. Now would be the best time to make a smart life decision.

"Oh please, Rex Lapis," you pleaded, kneeling on the floor with your hands pressed together in prayer. "I beg for forgiveness, oh merciful Archon."

"Spare me your theatrics."

You winced. That didn't work out as well as you hoped.

A couple of seconds passed by before Zhongli let out a deep sigh. "I don't know what you were thinking when you decided to blindly sign multiple contracts.

...

"However, I am willing to go through each contract for you and teach you of anything you should be aware of for now and for the foreseeable future."

...

"...Huh...?"

"You mean... I'm not gonna suffer the Wrath of the Rock?"

"The Wrath of the Rock??" Zhongli asks, flabbergasted. "Did you really think I was going to hurt you?"

...

"Yes..." you answered, meekly.

Zhongli's face softened before he placed a hand on your shoulder. "I would never harm you nor let anyone bring harm you, [Y/N]. I'd be a fool to do so after all that you have done for my friends, for Liyue, and for Teyvat."

He gave a soft smile. "I'm just letting you know that you should be more careful while signing any contracts in the future. You never know if you're getting a fair agreement if you never read its contents."

You nodded, smile also on your face. "Yes sir, I'll read every contract from now on, sir."

"Good. Now then, would you kindly read the contents of each contract to me. I'll stop you if I need to mention anything worth noting."

You spent the next couple of hours going over each contract, taking notes on anything Zhongli deemed worth of remembering. You guess that showing him the actual game will come at a later time.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Author Side Notes: Wow that Zhongli bit took up a lot of this. In all honesty, it could probably be it's own thing separate from all of the other shenanigans.

By the way, I imagine that Zhongli uses reading glasses. I don't why I think that, but I feel like it suits him for some reason.

[allwaswell16]

A fic rec of One Direction fics with no smut as requested in an ask that got lost somehow I'm so sorry! If you enjoy the fics, please leave kudos and comments for the writers! You can find my other fic recs here. Happy reading!

- Louis/Harry -

🩵 forever is in your eyes by we_are_the_same / @so-why-let-your-voice-be-tamed

(M, 125k, fantasy) “Jesus Christ.” He whispers, shaking his head and resisting the urge to brush the back of his hand against his lips, erase evidence that isn’t even visible to the naked eye. Harry stands there, as though nothing’s changed, and of course he does, because he’s a statue. A statue that Louis has just kissed.

🩵 Tired Tired Sea by MediaWhore / @mediawhorefics

(M, 113k, lighthouse au) As a B&B owner on the most remote of all the British Isles, Louis Tomlinson is used to spending the coldest half of the year in complete isolation, with his dog and the sea as sole companions. Until, one day, a mysterious stranger on a quest to rebuild himself rents a room for the winter.

🩵 An Amazing Race Around the World (And to my Heart) by Thingssicant / @slowlyseducedbycurls

(E, 89k, enemies to lovers) Or an Amazing race Hate to Lovers au

🩵 Into the Weeds by kair0sclerosis / @night-is-a-feeling

(M, 87k, character study) With the help of the captivating bartender, Louis, who he can’t seem to stop daydreaming about, and his enchanting group of friends; Harry remembers what it is to be alive. This is a story about small-town secrets, found family, queer identities, and the battle between fight and flight.

🩵 Let Our Hearts Collide by @crinkle-eyed-boo

(M, 76k, While You Were Sleeping au) When Harry, a lonely transit worker, saves the life of the handsome commuter he's been secretly pining for, an innocent mistake results in Liam Payne's family believing that Harry is engaged to their son. In the Paynes, Harry finds the big family he's always longed for...and a love he never saw coming.

🩵 another dream but always you by you_explode / @nobodymoves

(M, 66k, famous/not famous) Harry is a Dreamwalker; he has the ability to visit people in their dreams and help put them on the right path. He's assigned to Louis, who's struggling after the break-up of his band.

🩵 Forget the Silent Nights by LadyLondonderry / @londonfoginacup

(T, 44k, roommates) Either way, the last Christmas with the seven of them in that broken old house on Redwood all together was probably one of the most memorable holidays each of them had, what with the wedding and the the snowstorm and the raccoons in their attic...And the baby they stole, of course.

🩵 Too Young To Know by @2tiedships2

(M, 35k, omegaverse) the one where Harry doesn’t present as an alpha… until he does.

🩵 All Out of Love by SunTomato / @sun-tomato

(G, 32k, cupid au) Harry is a Cupid, who work their magic on a different plane, invisible to humans.

🩵 Fuck You For Ruining New York City For Me by galactic_larry / @galacticlarry

(T, 11k, exes) Louis broke up with him in their New York apartment, so Harry left the city for good. Except now he’s back, visiting with his new boyfriend.

🩵 Does it Ever Drive You Crazy? (Just How Fast the Night Changes) by xx_soup_xx

(G, 7k, strangers to lovers) Baker Harry Styles takes it upon himself to get his mysterious grumpy customer, Louis Tomlinson, to like Christmas by taking him on a disastrous first date.

🩵 Girl Crush by Hopeless_blue

(T, 7k, strangers to lovers) He used to be so close to fulfilling his dreams when he participated in X-Factor. But that was four years ago, and now, on a rainy day, he wanders the streets looking for a pub where he could sing sometimes. Charming bartender Louis is ready to give him a shot...

🩵 Why Don’t We Start Writing The Story Of Us by red_panda28 / @red-pandaaa

(T, 6k, omegaverse) Alpha Louis and Omega Harry get off on the wrong foot, Louis has the worst timing, and Harry believes in second chances. Three times Louis asks Harry on a date and the one time Harry accepts

🩵 now i'm tracin' all my steps to you by @alwaysxlarrie

(T, 5k, 5 times fic) Of all the things Harry was prepared for this summer, Louis Tomlinson and his wonderful, wonderful scent isn't one of them. It probably shouldn't be as shocking as it is that it makes Harry want to nest.

🩵 Missed Connection by @kingsofeverything

(M, 3k, humor) Harry is absolutely clueless when it comes to figuring out if other guys are into him, so he enlists his friend Niall to assist. That may or may not be a mistake.

🩵 You & Me by @allwaswell16

(G, 3k, uni) Louis hasn't had much luck in love, so he decides to finally meet this boy his mother thinks is his match. As fate would have it, he encounters an intriguing stranger to confide in before he meets with destiny.

🩵 All The Way Home I'll Be Warm by @justanothershadeofblue

(T, 2k, friends to lovers) Harry & Louis jokingly send out holiday cards together as friends, and now everyone is congratulating them for finally getting together. A 5+1 fic, for Christmas.

🩵 skinny dip (in water under the bridge) by hazzahtomlinson / @itsnotreal

(G, 880 words, exes) It’s a Wednesday and nostalgia might just get the best of Louis.

- Rare Pairs -

🩵 I Go Down Blazing, Feeling Like I'm Going Crazy (series) by @lululawrence

(NR, 29k, Niall/RoryMcIlroy) the soulmates AU where Niall won't know who his soulmate is until his twenty-first birthday, but becoming friends with Rory McIlroy is a great distraction while he navigates fame and does his best to be patient.

🩵 Blind Date by LadyAJ_13 / @ladyaj-13

(G, 13k, ot5) Louis Tomlinson, model and aspiring actor, has been chosen to appear on Blind Date. The only problem is, all the contestants are wonderful. And so is the host. It's making things difficult.

[eomma-jpeg]

trigun fic rec list - from lace!

alright, FINE, twist my arm

FIRST UP: @squid789 Blank Ticket - vashmeryl/milivio

so i have a personal fanfic like... catalog LOL and i make little notes as i read and here is the note i left on BT right after i finished it about a year ago

seriously sooooooooooooooo good. squid does an incredible job at post trimax work

blank ticket is so good if you like post trimax stuff (like I do >:)) and squid is so good at representing vash as he ought to be (a brat with a bad attitude and abandonment issues)

Sea Foam - vashmeryl/millywood

once again i have notes from my catalog LOL

PERFECT STUPENDOUS INCREDIBLE I LOVE SQUID AND THE DRAMA AND TRAUMA THEY GIVE ME

SF is a mermaid au and i adore ANYTHING THAT GIVES ME MERMAIDS. It is such an amazing exploration into so many characters, and especially knives WHOM I LOVE TO HATE IN THIS FIC. hes such a brat and yet is just a kid who never got to be a kid and i love him

After Eden - vashmeryl/milivio

I don't have this one in my catalog !!!!! a tragedy !!! (i stopped updating my catalog when i started writing what a shame T-T)

But i can chat about after eden bc i was there for its conception!!! and I beta for it teehee

but its an exploration of BT and i just

it hurts me

squid loves to hurt me

but it hurts so good T-T

if you love to see manga vash act like a spoiled brat and enjoy meryl whump, you will LOVE after eden

Not a Chance - vashmeryl

a lil fic written in the in the meadow universe and its by squid and i love squid and this is my favorite thing in the world

meryl contemplates why she had to fall in love with this doofus

Now, for just a HUGE line up of fics !! these will include my initial thoughts that i have saved in my catalog teehee:

vashmeryl

Truth of a Memory by @fullcry

Vash and Meryl experiment with Vash’s telepathy and memory sharing.

one of my favs just because meryl and vash are so sweet to each other T-T

The Art of the Date by fullcry

Meryl and Milly pity Vash for being a terrible flirt, and Vash dares Meryl to a date to teach him to do better. Vash does better than anticipated.

i go back and reread this one often lol

Memories on Film by fullcry

okay.... this one is spicy and I'm not a huge fan of explicit content....

BUT THE GROWTH AND THE SWEET TENDER MOMENTS AND VASH BEING OBVIOUS MAKES ME SWOON ITS SO GOOD

Other Ways to Speak by fullcry

Meryl kisses each and every one of Vash’s scars

inspired by this

OH BABY THIS ONE IS SO GOOD.

No Reason by @eilwen

this is more of a collection of one shots rather than a complete story, but it has some very cute chapters.

LITERALLY ONE OF THE BEST TRIGUN FANFIC AUTHORS OUT THERE !

Seriously one of the best fics. I'm still not completely caught up bc i have zero time, but its so incredibly written. i wanna be like eilwen when i grow up

Distractions by eilwen

eilwen at it again !!! their stuff is so good !!!!!!

this is an incredible exploration of meryl’s character and the growth of their relationship through the books she reads.

The End by @ginger-mosaic

Long fic. It is a vashmeryl fic but it is MORE of an exploration of Vash and Knives’ relationship after the events of the manga.

currently unfinished and I want to die because I need more. I love Livio

ITS ALMOST DONE AND AHHHHHHHHHH CHRONICAAAAAAAAA

seriously an INCREDIBLE FIC. it is a book that could be published at this point its so good. not incredibly vashmeryl heavy, but it is there and i adore it sm T-T

The thomas in the room by @anime-grimmy

Paired with a comic by the author, this takes place after the events of the movie Trigun: Badlands Rumble.

Meryl is acting weird and Vash is determined to figure out what he did to make her so angry at him.

I LOVE THEM SO MUCH THEYRE SO DUMB AND SO IN LOVE GRAHHHHH

Saving Grace by anonymous

TRIGUN SPOILERS - biblically accurate vash. big angel boy

Meryl gets injured and vash tries something new in order to help her

uhhhh if you like monsters and big angels and kisses then uhhhhh this is for you

Roots by @magadauthan

Meryl and Vash have a… whirlwind of a relationship. Vash notices something strange about his hair. Meryl makes him clean the bathroom.

soooooooo silly and domestic and dumb they heal each other its cute.

Interjacence by herdedcats (jaina <3)

Vash and Meryl can’t sleep and decide to make donuts in the middle of the night. Unfortunately that also leave a lot of time for evaluating feelings and confessing thoughts.

no comfort :(

this one is SO GOOD BY WHY DID IT HAVE TO HURT ME SO

Flying or Falling by @madnessmadness

MAXIMUM RIDE AND TRIGUN MIX AHHHHHHELFJFLEFJELKJFLEKJFLJE

my two niche interests slammed together and its so good aldkjfsljdflkj

Bluebells by @needle-noggins

once again, i don't like explicit content, but sav gets me HOOKED IN WITH THE COMFORT AND THE CHARACTER BUILDING AND THE WAY THESE TWO LOVE EACH OTHER SO DESPERATELY THEY WANT TO HELP EACH OTHER SO BAD

Like a Limb by @commander-goo

points aggressively

you like post trimax ? you like feathers and hurt/comfort ???

YOU LIKE THIS

READ THIS

Wait, he can do that? by anonymous

SOFT

FEATHERY AND SOFT AND GOOD

meryl gets a glimpse into vash's ..... dreams.... and gets a bit flustered

millywood

Absolution by SMP

companion piece to tension, describes the intimate moment between Milly and Wolfwood just after he kills Zazie and before [MAJOR TRIGUN SPOILER]

one of the best millywood pieces out there. seriously so good and so soft and has some of the best imagery

i can see a lot of life in you by procrastinatingbookworm

Milly and Wolfwood share clothes

some trigun spoilers because of Wolfwood’s guilt :/

VERY POETIC AND VERY GOOD

In Eden by MicrosuedeMouse

a 98 fic where wolfwood happens to be alive 1!!! and he’s scared to come forward and see milly………….

but then he sees her

millynai

Zirconium Blues by @madnessmadness

alt au where Nai is the hero and Vash is the villain……..

ITS SO INCREDIBLE AHHHHHHHH I LOVE THIS ONE ITS SO POETIC AND AWESOME AND I LOVE LENI THEY FRICKING CATER TO ME AHHHH

milly takes care of an injured nai and shes so country i love her so much

In the Moonlight by @veilder

THIS WAS WRITTEN FOR ME ITS IN THE MEADOW CONTENT T-T

I LOVE VEIL SO MUCH THEYFJEFLEJFLSJD THEY DID THIS FOR ME AHHHHHHH

How to say "You are the sun to my moon" in Flowers by FullmetalDude1

a cute fic inspired by in the meadow and its suuuper sweet

this is a flowershop au where knives is essentially domesticated by milly and i love them so much

Interested in the fics i didn't mention? here you go Lace's Fanfic Catalog

[lisa972kdlz]

(The French version is below)

I just realized something.

About Dreamtale. Why we're so touched by this AU, and by the twins.

I just understood why Nightmare is so popular, why he touches us, why he touches ME, even though he's NOT my favorite character compared to Dream, Ace or Error.

Because we identify with his problems?

Yes.

Because we sympathize with his backstory?

Certainly.

Because we love drama and tentacles?

... Meh, for sure.

Because Dreamtale brings an extremely interesting symbolic theme about feelings?

Indeed.

Because fandom has developed the story of the two siblings in all its forms, and we've been taken on board without really realizing it by the fan creations - comics, drawings, fan fiction - that we discover as we go along?

Absolutly.

But that doesn't explain the intensity of this emotional involvement. Why did Nightmare inspire me so much, and still do today? Because very often MAIS CHIOTTE DE SES MORTS QU'IL ME SAOULE BORDEL DE SCROGNEUGNEU?! (Untranslatable in English, sorry QwQ)

And then I realised.

"The two siblings"...

Doesn't this story remind you of another?

I don't know why, but I get the impression that NOBODY makes this obvious parallel. At least I've never seen any comparative fanart or people talking about it.

The majority of Dreamtale fans are first and foremost Undertale fans, who went through the Gameplay, Let's play's, etc. before discovering the AU's. The majority have played or watched the game and discovered the Lore. Listened to the OSTs. Enjoyed the characters.

The majority witnessed the magnificent end of the Pacifist Timeline and the ensuing burst of tears.

And who, for God's sake, has never been touched by Asriel's fate? This child who died far too soon, who never meant any harm to anyone, who died because of a bad decision, then was resurrected as a sadistic, soulless being incapable of love?

Don't you think Night looks a lot like him? And that Dream is a cross between Frisk and Chara?

Not in personality, nor necessarily in the story, but in the way they touche the audience through their shared destiny.

Two siblings who love each other dearly are brutally separated by a quarrel in which one loses his life, transformed into a powerful, emotionless demon. The other sleeps for years before waking up, lost and confused... Then they embark on an adventure with a guide, discover the world that has evolved without them, grow up, meet new people, help, save.

And this co-dependent relationship. The demon is still a child at heart. He wants to play with his sibling, even to the point of committing atrocious acts to make them stay with him, even if it means taking their soul and killing them a million times over. But nostalgia takes hold of him again. Deep in his overpowering heart, he feels all the souls of the world bound together, he feels determination of monsters and humans, the love they have for each other. It's all too much for him. He succumbs to his feelings and bursts into tears. He apologizes. The two siblings reconcile.

It's the kind of story we'd all like to give Dream and Nightmare, isn't it?

We want to save Night.

But like Asriel, it's impossible. We all know by now that Corrupted Nightmare isn't Night, don't we? It's a revelation that hits us when we search a bit on the creator's Tumblr after reading the Prologue. The story leaves us no choice: he died five hundred years ago, and that remains unchanging. There is no hope.

He has to go. Become corrupt again. He has to die again. Because that's how it must be.

Yeah yeah, we love Sans in Undertale, he's pretty cool and the Multiverse revolves around him. But as soon as we play the game, it's Asriel we're crying for. For good reason, Dreamtale, the story that most closely resembles his tragedy, is one of the most popular universes. Is that chance? Or have we all unconsciously drawn the parallel?

Now, when I listen Hopes and Dreams, Save the World, His Theme, one part of me thinks of Asriel and Chara, the other part thinks of Dream and Nightmare.

It was to save Asriel that fans started developing parallel universes. And it's to save Night that we're repeating the process.

It would have been a lot cooler to put Dream and Nightmare in Chara and Asriel's bodies, I think.

And the HELL you imagine CORRUPTED NIGHTMARE WITH THE APPEARANCE OF FULL-POWERED ASRIEL ????

Damn, I would have fan-girled instead of foe-girl on him I guess 🤔

Or for those who love big, ugly monsters, in PHOTOSHOP FLOWEY mode!

Delightfully nightmarish, I approve 👌✨!

____________________________________

Je viens de comprendre un truc.

À propos de Dreamtale. Pourquoi on est autant touché par cet AU, et par les jumeaux.

Je viens de comprendre pourquoi Nightmare est aussi populaire, pourquoi il nous touche, pourquoi il ME touche alors que POURTANT, ce n'est pas mon personnage préféré comparé à Dream, Ace ou Error.

Parce qu'on s'identifie à ses problèmes ?

Oui.

Parce qu'on compatie à sa backstory ?

Certainement.

Parce qu'on aime le drama et les tentacules ?

...Meh, à coup sûr.

Parce que Dreamtale apporte une thématique symbolique extrêmement intéressante à propos des sentiments ?

Tout à fait.

Parce que le Fandom a développé l'histoire des deux frères sous toutes les formes et que nous avons été embarqués sans trop s'en rendre compte par les créations des fans, comics, dessins, fanfictions, que nous découvrons au fur et à mesure ?

Absolument.

Mais voilà, tout ça a le bénéfice de me convaincre, mais ça n'explique toujours pas l'intensité de cette implication émotionnelle. Pourquoi Nightmare m'a autant inspirée et m'inspire encore aujourd'hui ? Alors que très souvent MAIS CHIOTTE DE SES MORTS QU'IL ME SÂOULE BORDEL DE SCROGNEUHGNEUH ?!

Et c'est là que j'ai réalisé.

"Les deux frères"...

Cette histoire ne vous en rappelle-t-elle pas une autre ?

Je ne sais pas pourquoi, mais j'ai l'impression que PERSONNE ne fait ce parallèle pourtant évident. En tout cas je n'ai jamais vu de fanart comparatif ou de gens en parler.

La majorité des fans de Dreamtale est avant tout des fans d'Undertale, qui sont passés par le jeu travers le Gameplay, le Let's play, etc. avant de découvrir les AU's. La majorité a joué ou regardé le jeu et découvert le Lore. Écouté les OST. Apprécié les personnages.

La majorité a été témoin de la magnifique fin de la Timeline Pacifiste et de l'éclat de larmes qui en découle.

Et qui, bon sang mais qui, n'a jamais été touché par le destin d'Asriel ? Cet enfant mort bien trop tôt qui n'a jamais voulu de mal à personne, mort à cause d'une mauvaise décision, puis ressuscité en un être sadique et sans âme, incapable d'aimer ?

Vous ne trouvez pas que Night lui ressemble énormément ? Et que Dream serait le mélange de Frisk et de Chara ?

Pas dans la personnalité, ni dans l'histoire forcément, mais dans la manière dont il touche le public par leur destin commun.

Deux frères qui s'aiment énormément sont brutalement séparés par une dispute où l'un perd la vie, transformé en un démon surpuissant et dénué de sentiments. L'autre dort des années durant avant de se réveiller, perdu, confus... Puis il se lance à l'aventure en compagnie d'un guide, découvre le monde qui a évolué sans lui, grandit rencontre de nouvelles personnes, aide, sauve.

Et cette relation co-dépendante. Le démon est encore un enfant au fond de lui. Il veut jouer avec son frère, au point de commettre des actes atroces pour rester avec lui, même s'il doit s'emparer de son âme et le tuer un million de fois. Mais la nostalgie s'empare à nouveau de lui. Il sent au fond de son cœur trop puissant les âmes liées entres elles, il sent leur détermination, l'amour qu'ils ont les uns pour les autres. C'est beaucoup trop pour lui. Il succombe à ses sentiments et éclate en larmes. Il s'excuse. Les deux frères se réconcilient.

Belle histoire qu'on a tous envie de donner à Dream et Nightmare, pas vrai ?

On a envie de sauver Night.

Mais comme Asriel, c'est impossible. Nous savons tous à présent que Nightmare Corrompu n'est pas Night, n'est-ce pas ? C'est une révélation qui nous percute quand on cherche un peu sur le Tumblr de la créatrice après avoir lu le Prologue. L'histoire ne nous laisse aucun choix, il est mort il y a cinq-cents ans et cela reste immuable. Il n'y a aucun espoir.

Il doit s'en aller. Redevenir corrompu. Il doit mourir à nouveau. Parce que c'est comme ça que ça doit se passer.

Oui, on aime Sans dans Undertale, il est vachement cool et le Multivers tourne autour de lui. Mais dès qu'on joue au jeu, c'est pour Asriel qu'on pleure. Pour cause, Dreamtale, l'histoire qui ressemble le plus à sa tragédie, est l'un des univers des plus populaires. Un hasard ? Ou bien avons-nous tous fait inconsciemment le parallèle ?

Maintenant, quand j'écoute Hopes and Dreams, Save the World, His Theme, une part de moi pense à Asriel et Chara, l'autre part pense à Dream et Nightmare.

C'est pour sauver Asriel que les fans ont commencé à développer des univers parallèles. Et c'est pour sauver Night qu'on réitère le processus.

Ça aurait été vachement plus cool de mettre Dream et Nightmare dans des corps de Chara et Asriel je pense.

Et bordel vous imaginez NIGHTMARE CORROMPU AVEC LA FORME D'ASRIEL FULL-POWER ????

Ah bah j'aurais peut-être fan-girlé au lieu de foe-girler pour le coup 🤔

Ou pour ceux qui aiment les gros monstres pas beaux, en mode PHOTOSHOP FLOWEY !

Délicieusement cauchemardesque, j'approuve 👌✨!

[orbital-inclination]

Can Molten still feel negative emotions or not? I’m unsure since at first I assumed this goop was liquid positivity but now I’m doubting myself- also do you use discord by any chance? :3

i think i first established this in "what i never told you." But yes, he can feel negative emotions! In fact he has a whole complex about it. He was raised to believe he wasn't supposed to feel or express negative emotions. Molt feels there is something wrong with him, something spoiled from the start, because he can feel those things. Molt feels “morally obligated” to not act on those feelings. But he slips up more than he realizes.

Like the way I handle Molt, the way I interpret Classic!Nightmare goes a bit against the grain. I don’t like the idea that goop prevents him from feeling positive emotions, because that makes telling a story kind of hard and makes him feel flat as a character. Instead I think goop works better as symbolic denial of personal growth. Nightmare gives in to his darker impulses because he refuses to believe things COULD get better, for himself and others. Or some sort of character arc like that. It doesn’t have to be that specific arc. TLDR: humans want their characters to be complex and relatable, and I reject the idea that Nightmare can only feel negative emotions.

I do have a discord! But… *leans in close to whisper* I’m a professional lurker. I am a shadow in the server. A glitch of a user name in the corner of your screen, I hardly say anything! I’m not fun to know on discord at all, I’m afraid.

[hopeyarts]

✨What the Message in Disney’s Wish Should’ve Been✨

————————————————————————

If Disney wanted Wish to have their classic magical movie then the message shouldn’t have been ‘to keep wishing’. Like what does that mean? It should’ve been to ‘have faith and do what is good, and your dreams will come true’.

If you keep the right faith and love in your heart, you will get what is best for yourself and others. Pursue in the effort to put these values in the right power who loves and cherishes you back. Do what is right and more than what you’ve wished for will come true. The real magic of making your heart’s purest desire come true is your faith and kindness. It’s not solely in yourself to make them come true.

I know this sounds Christian to some people, and it is. I’m a Christian. I’m not saying Disney as a company should’ve made everything Christian or religious, but they should’ve taught the lessons they’ve always taught in their better animated movies for Wish. They could have also made a great story with their characters to give a clear example of moving away from an amateur/fraud/false prophet in power (for example, villain King Magnifico) and into the true deity (the Blue Fairy). The citizens who moved to Rosas had lost hope because they see that their desires are unfulfilled, so they turn to a false prophet (evil King Magnifico) to make them come true, when really that false prophet is using their trust for his own gain and power. He is just posing as a higher power, and opposing the traits and values of an actual loving higher power. The true higher power (the Blue Fairy) does the opposite and righteous thing. She blesses those who have faith and are selfless, and guides people who commit their hearts to goodness.

And no, Star is not that higher power in the movie. It is only Asha’s motivation/inspiration to keep going because it’s a light in the dark times she’s facing and is the only thing that *believes in her*, telling us that she’s the true power to making her dreams a reality. It’s a good thing to have people believe that you can achieve something, yes, but Star is only really telling her that the power to make your dreams come true is in yourself only. YOU have the power to make anything come true, which contradicts the lesson in every other Walt Disney Animated film.

The point is to be selfless and to have faith in the true loving higher power.

Snow White showed kindness to anyone and anything, even those who hated her (Grumpy). No matter what trouble she fell into, she showed empathy and love to everyone and everything. She offered her kindness to others, even if it meant falling under a spell.

Princess and the Frog! The perfect example of finally allowing yourself to have faith in others instead of relying solely on yourself to make your dreams come true. She allowed love into her life, which helped her not only get her restaurant but form stronger bonds and relationships with other people. When she was offered the chance to get what she wanted, she gave up her dream life because she knew that love was what she needed, not a restaurant.

The Little Mermaid. Ariel finds the goodness in humans and gives them a chance, despite her father’s hatred towards them and despite them killing her mother. She believed that there was love in humankind and that belief helped to peacefully connect the two worlds together and helped her father overcome his hatred and grief. She traded away her life as a mermaid in exchange for a life as a human, even if it meant she’d have limited time if she failed to kiss the prince. Don’t forget that she risked her life to save Eric when his ship burned down.

Hercules, who was born a Greek god, looked up to some higher power in hopes of finding where he belongs. During the movie, he was given strength and a pegasus and things he would want. But it wasn’t what he needed. At the end of the movie, he decided to give up his immortality and powers to stay with Meg in Greece. He gave up everything he wanted for what he truly needed, and he knew it was enough.

Pinnochio really dives into having faith and being selfless. He learned that in order to be a real boy, you must learn from your mistakes. You must do what is right, be honest, and be selfless. He earned the reward of being a real boy when he saves his father. He gave up his life to save him, and in return for his bravery and love he is transformed into a real boy.

Cinderella. She shows kindness to both the animals (even Lucifer) and her stepfamily, no matter how cruel they are to her. She persevered through their abuse and stayed faithful in her dreams. Once she is broken down to the point she nearly gives that faith up, her fairy godmother appears and helps her. Cinderella keeps her faith and love in her heart. At the end, she forgives her family, showing more of her kindness. The entirety of the movie, she gave up her patience and stayed calm and compassionate to others even if they gave her a more than difficult time.

There are plenty more, but those are some examples. They all have the values of doing what is good *and* putting your faith in the direction. That equals selflessness. So the point of my post is that the message should’ve aligned with what past Walt Disney movies had. While Asha does a good thing in the movie (sort of), her faith isn’t aligned well. The message is beaten down to something so absurd and vague that it’s…💀 ‘Just keep wishing’ is not a good message, especially not for Disney’s 100th animated film.

I recommend reading @/artist-issues posts on Wish and having faith because that person knows more about it and is more articulate on the topic.

Anyways, I’ve written a character arc for Asha in a previous post so I’ll just be adding some more to it here. Instead of my own take, I’m just going to go by the movie’s storyline to be simple.

The idea I have for Asha, according to this whole thing, is that at the beginning of the movie Asha is like every other citizen until she somehow finds out that King Magnifico is using their wishes (which in all honesty, these wishes shouldn’t have been wishes but should have actually been their passion/sparks/willing ambition but I’ll say wishes right now for the sake of being simple once again) for his own power and gain. He consumes these wishes to stay in power, and whenever he does consume a wish the original owner of that wish is put into a state of endless grief and depression and would shortly result in death from a broken heart (kinda inspired by Chef Gustaeu from Ratatouille). People wouldn’t know this was happening and thought they died naturally. This ties into how Asha’s father should’ve died. Additionally, she lost her faith in the stars when her father died because they didn’t help fulfill her wish. This could signal the question on how wishing upon a star or having faith in a higher power works.

So anyways, the citizens are gaslighted by King Magnifico that everything is fine because they are ‘safe, fed, and protected’ and that they are ‘ungrateful if they question him because they are safe, fed, and protected’ when really they aren’t safe because he’s killing them, unbeknownst to the citizens. They eventually gaslight themselves about this too because they’re like ‘the king is the king and so he’s right. Right? Any doubts I have about him are wrong because he is keeping us safe’. He is basically luring people into his kingdom with the false hope that he’ll grant every wish and that he’ll keep them safe and happy. This whole consuming wishes thing could be leading up to him having enough power to capture Star in the first place or whatever, but I’m not gonna really get into that here.

To put it short, King Magnifico is the venus flytrap and the citizens are the flies; his kingdom looks nice and welcoming but has bad-intentions. King Magnifico is the farmer and the citizens are the animals; he keeps them safe for the sake of getting their wishes and consuming them for power. He takes advantage of their trust. These could be people that seek refuge somewhere safe only to realize they’re being exploited for their king’s own gain. He is breaching their contract deal and terms (them giving up their wishes in order to stay in Rosas, Magnifico guaranteeing he’ll grant every wish and that he’ll keep them safe when really he’s consuming them to keep his power).

Asha, however, finds out about what he’s actually doing with the wishes and she sets off to free them all and return them to the people. It is not a wrong thing to do, unlike the movie’s version, because Magnifico has been giving them actual FALSE HOPE and betraying their trust. At this point, she doesn’t believe in King Magnifico anymore. Taking her father’s words, she thinks that wishing upon a star will guide her directly. But no, it doesn’t work that way. You can’t look up to someone and expect that someone to solve all of your problems for you. Asha, seeing that Star isn’t what SHE THOUGHT he’d be, would forget her father’s words and try to pursue her goal herself.

So she doesn’t believe in Magnifico anymore. She doesn’t even believe in the Star or Blue Fairy anymore AGAIN either. She starts to believes that people have the power to make their own dreams come true *themselves*. Throughout the story, she is constantly being told by the Blue Fairy or Star that what she is doing is good, but her faith, love, and more is in the wrong place. Ignorantly, Asha still doesn’t believe that, showing a form of selfishness and arrogance, and continues to try to pursue her wish herself with or without help.

It is then at the end of the movie she learns a lesson after King Magnifico does something horrifyingly bad like consuming every wish for example. People are on a time limit when they’re wishes are consumed because they’ll die soon. This gives us a risk! And Asha learns that she can’t do this herself BY herself. She learns that instead of putting your faith in the wrong power (King Magnifico or solely yourself), you need to put that faith in the right direction. Let people help you and put your trust in others. You can put in the effort and work into achieving your dreams, but without staying selfless and having the right love and faith you won’t meet your end goal. And this helps the people to realize that they’ve been believing and putting their trust in the wrong power. The lesson learnt is to put your faith and love in the right direction. Accept the help of the people who will forever cherish and support you. Put in the effort and do what is right, and what is best will be rewarded to you. Be selfless.

ALL IN ALL—at the start, we know she had lost her faith in the stars after her father died when she was young. She put that faith in King Magnifico, but her trust was betrayed. She looked to the stars again in a desperate moment, and thought it’d solve all of her problems. But because that’s not how it works and she doesn’t know that, Asha gives up in all higher powers and tries to pursue her dreams herself. At the end she got it back and refocused it in the right direction. It makes her selfless and finally see the truth in who to believe in. She does what is right (giving the wishes back to the people) and accepts help. She learns that her effort was right, but the only ingredient she was missing was love and the right faith. Asha is then rewarded; she gets MORE from this (getting a magic wand to help others) and gets what’s BEST for her and the kingdom.

🌟-

Have faith and do what is right, and your dreams will come true.

The general lesson in Walt Disney movies.

🌟-

I suppose this is a journey people like myself experienced, especially with God, so you could say this is a reflection of that. I want to talk more about Him and how He has helped me, and I think this is a great way for me to do that. I’m still learning and traveling through this journey with Him, always. 👍🏽

To end this here, have a quote from the song A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes: “Have faith in your dreams and someday, your rainbow will come smiling through. No matter how much your heart is grieving, if you keep believing, the dream that you wish for will come true.”

Another one from When You Wish Upon A Star: “Fate is kind. She brings those who love the sweet fulfillment of their secret longing. Like a bolt out of the blue, fate steps in and sees you through when you wish upon a star.”

There are many Walt Disney quotes both from the movies and himself that I could put here. ❤️

[cosmicjoke]

Do you maybe dislike Erwin, maybe even a bit? I see a lot of hostility towards Erwin of recent and I know it's because of an annoying minority. But it is kind of sad to see the hostility towards Erwin's character because of it, not even you specifically. People now take countless jabs at his character and some even claim he had no one who cared about him. And even some have takes that Levi hated him, which to me sounds crazy.

No, I don't dislike Erwin at all. If you've read any of my posts about Levi's and Erwin's relationship, you would see I constantly talk about Erwin being a good man, about his amazing leadership qualities, about his importance to Levi, how he had more influence on Levi than probably any, other person in his life, etc... I just won't say Levi was in love with him, because he wasn't. And for that, I get accused of all kinds of ridiculous things, like being homophobic, being an anti-shipper, being a blight on the eruri community. There's nothing to support the notion that Levi was in love with Erwin, or vice versa, and I think it does a massive disservice to their actual relationship, and to them as individual characters, when people insist on that being the reason Levi was loyal to Erwin, or why Levi let Erwin die in Shinganshina. It's a complete dumbing down of the actual complexity and nuance of their relationship and what they meant to each other, and of Levi's actions with regard to Erwin in particular, and it skews ones ability to actually understand either of their motives within the broader narrative of the story.

Levi cared immensely about Erwin. But people that insist he was in love with him want to make it seem as if he cared only about Erwin, or that he cared about him more than anyone else. That's just simply not true. Levi cared about everybody. Every, single one of his comrades. He saw all of their lives as equally valuable. Erwin's, too. He let Erwin die because he didn't think it was right to let him keep suffering. But when people try to say, for example, that Levi's vow to Erwin to kill Zeke was only for Erwin, they completely dismiss how much Levi cared about the lives of every soldier that died that day in Shinganshina. How much it affected him, that they all rode to their death to give him the chance to kill the Beast Titan. There's a reason Levi thinks of all of them when he thinks of his vow. There's a reason Levi says, "Finally, I can prove your deaths had meaning". It completely undercuts the compassion Levi holds for every life, when people try to make it all about Erwin, and no one else. It denies Levi his actual heroism and goodness, by making it seem as if he didn't feel anything, or particularly care, about the 100 other soldiers that gave their lives for humanity that day.

And that's pure bullshit.

[missizzy]

So this morning I have decided, after weeks of seeing people go after her for issues that were beyond her control, to write about how awesome Aabria Iyengar has once again been.

It's been a good nine months since her gnome cleric asked her god to his face if he was worth saving, which was a brilliant moment on its own, but now she's created a scene for current events on Exandria that makes it resonate all the more. Aabria was handed a difficult task with the Crown Keepers, when we haven't seen them since Kymal, and now they had to at least partly break apart so Dorian could return to the others without bringing too many people with him for the table to hold, and she had to make us feel it. Having the Spider Queen demand more than Opal was willing to give, bringing the consequences of the actions the player had very much chosen home to roost, may have been obvious enough a move. But it was still pretty daring to really go all out with it the way she did, to have her turn on her friends and just increase in deadliness as the encounter went on, when that would be reminiscent of the near-TPK we'd already just had, and have even the less evil deities be willing to let Opal be destroyed even more than death would do to increase their own chances of survival. And then there was a the really smart move, to have the gemstones around, and to have them trigger flashbacks, so we could at least get some of the important moments of the Crown Keepers' journey. She knew when to exact a steep price-Cyrus may have been the easiest kill, but that meant him being the one killed made sense, and had the added bonus of especially impacting the guy we were staying with. And in the end, she also knew when to call the toll taken, and ultimately allow Fyra-Rai to stay with Opal, for however much consolation that may provide. Then she topped that off on Four Sided Dive this week. As tavern keeper, she was quite good at leading the conversation, and of course she knew what the fans cared most about; three years after the Summer of Aabria first brought her to prominence, she still hasn't lost that "one of us" energy. Plus, when they broke out For the Queen, it was her who first made the Queen the CEO and setting up the zany story that resulted in the best gaming segment that show had produced yet, and also her that gave the story its strongest twist when she went and killed another one of the characters. Also her showing on Critical Role Cooldown was a pretty strong one, too. But it pales in comparison to what she'd pulled off already.

[nightmareinfloral]

I get so pessimistic about the current comics industry because is there even a way to try and save it or are we doomed to have these instagram post stories about the same five characters forever while the rest fade into relative obscurity

[yamanoskk]

The real mastermind, the unpredictable subordinate, and the 'spies'

My fanarts of the new casts in Touhou 19!

Overall, I do enjoy the game! Really adore all of the new casts, the new music are cool and the story is interesting! Really nice to see more of the old casts come back in here too!

[torgawl]

i keep thinking about how “is this what justice means to you, answer me neuvillette”, despite having been used in a case all those hundred of years ago, was probably a question that haunted - and still haunts - neuvilette during the entire time he has been chief of justice. i keep thinking about how they highlighted his struggles through time with both carole and wriothesley's trials. how guilty and powerless neuvillette must have felt for not being able to support and save those he recognised as vulnerable and victims before a system that corrupted their fates but that he wasn't able to change despite his position. the theme of being a casualty of a system no matter if you're the victim or the perpetrator in its eyes. the way neuvillette took, in both cases, things into his own hands. even if it was too late to fix the hurting carole and those who cared for her went through, even if it was too late to save her life; even if it was impossible to change wriothesley's past, his verdict and subsequent imprisonment; neuvillette went above and beyond, making use of his influence, to allow both melusines and wriothesley the opportunity of a better future - to melusines by making sure they weren't discriminated, to wriothesley by supporting his attempt at a second chance in life. i think part of the reason he's so intriguing is our awareness that this internal conflict he's bound to have is so complex. you have a chief of justice, or a judge, that is supposed to be imparcial and follow the law stictly confronted with situations of social injustice, unable to protect those who rely on him. you have someone who understands better than anyone what it means to be an outcast, being able to relate to those who are ostracised and have their pain weaponise against them. you have, in vautrin's case, a friend who cannot even showcase his own pain and is still expected to fullfil his juridical duties despite being personally related with those involved in the case. someone who people constantly turn to but whom he feels like he has no right to turn to himself. it's about the conflict between his feelings and his duty, between what's expected of him and what he can actually do. i think that's why the end of his story quest is so emotional and why it's so heartwarming to have him realise he isn't an outcast anymore, that he has a community there for him too. because a system is a system and he will probably never be able to save everyone, because yes he isn't human, but it doesn't mean he doesn't deserve to belong or that an active demonstration of love towards individuals and people he can relate to rather than the theoretical concept of humanity isn't meaningful. in fact, i'd it's a lot about that, about finding ways to be kind and how community gives meaning to life; how personal relationships and targeted kindness can shape society, or at least i think so